The New York Jets made official the deal that brings nine-year National Football League veteran Brandon Marshall to the New York Jets. Below is the official press release from the organization, including quotes from Marshall.

“General manager Mike Maccagnan, head coach Todd Bowles and the Jets didn’t waste any time securing the first outside name player of their new regime with the Green & White.

The Jets’ trade with the Chicago Bears for highly productive nine-year veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall became official this afternoon at the start of the unrestricted free agency signing period.

“I kind of knew about it before it all happened,” Marshall told Eric Allen on a phone call this morning. “It was pretty cool to be able to sit back and figure out who really wanted me and the right place for me. Being able to be in New York with Coach Bowles, I thought, was an amazing opportunity and one that I thought I couldn’t pass up.”

Bowles and new Jets WRs coach Karl Dorrell first worked with Marshall when he was a member of the Dolphins for the 2010 and ’11 seasons, when Bowles was Miami’s assistant head coach/secondary coach and Dorrell was coaching the ‘Fins’ quarterbacks.

“I think it will be a great transition,” Marshall said of working with those two coaches again. “Coach Bowles allows guys to be themselves. He treats everyone like men and like pros. That’s what it’s about right there. That’s what I’ve seen work, is when guys feel comfortable coming to work and they’re not micromanaged and there’s someone there they can believe in, they can trust. He’s an amazing leader.”

In Marshall’s nine NFL seasons — four with the Broncos, two with the Dolphins and the past three with the Bears — he’s compiled impressive receiving numbers. He has 773 regular-season receptions for 9,771 yards (12.6 yards/catch) and 65 touchdowns.

Marshall (6’4″, 230) began NFL life as a fourth-round rookie with Denver in 2006 but quickly blossomed into a regular 100-catch, 1,000-yard receiver. He cleared 1,000 yards for seven consecutive seasons, and in five of those — the first three with the Broncos, the last two with the Bears — he had at least 100 catches.

Almost half of his scoring grabs, 31 in all, came in the last three seasons in Chicago.

Last season he had 61 receptions for 721 yards. Ankle and rib injuries cost him three games although he still supplied eight TD catches in 13 games (all starts) — the fewest in a season in his career.

Now Marshall will be moving from Dah Bears to the J-E-T-S, coming to work at the Atlantic Health Training Center — which he referred to as “the Taj Mahal” after a visit last week — and joining the Jets’ receiving corps.

Allen asked Marshall: What can Jets fans expect to see from him?

“At this point in my career, I’ve still got 10 more years left in me,” he said with a laugh. “It’s the same same thing from day one. I’m just trying to get better at everything possible. I can still do everything, and I’m excited to do that. There’s going to be more on my plate. Paired up with Decker and Kerley, I’m looking forward to working with those guys, and working in this offense with what [coordinator] Chan Gailey is asking us to do, it’s going to give us more opportunities to make plays.

“Chicago was a little different,” Marshall said, “but it was a great offense and great people, and I’m looking forward to creating that same bond with the guys here on offense.””

About Derrel Johnson

Derrel Jazz Johnson is a sports and entertainment journalist and co-founder of CitySportsReport.com as well as a weekly columnist to New York Beacon as well as a frequent contributor to RollingOut.com, The Harlem Times and more. Derrel is a proud Harlemite who was born and raised in New York, and is an accomplished musician, poet, and huge sports fan.